Today from EUROSOLAR Trustee Claus P. Baumeister.
The new tri-party German national government has presented itself extremely positively as innovators and climate protectors – like three climate musketeers – but threatens to fail in the implementation of its full-bodied announcements. This trustee is more interested in substance than press statements!
For example: the listless way the two burning issues of transport and construction are handled already warns about the failure of the German government’s coalition troika. Speed limits like in all other civilized countries? Missing. An end to climate-damaging subsidies for hybrids, diesels and company cars? Not a chance.
Climate-friendly construction? Also not on the agenda. Subsidies are now being cut because the subsidy pot is empty and people – supposedly – build according to the German Bank for Reconstruction’s 55% efficiency standards anyway. This, too, is a complete failure of heart and of policy. There is still no obligatory PV standard, only beautiful efficiency standard calculations among other things with solar plants and modest insulation standard, no examination of the plan computations. After my experience with new buildings in my environment, these miss in reality by over 90% the already too small energetic requirements. In addition: The building prices rise in dizzying heights. With almost zero interest rates as good as no matter – or? Should the state subsidize poor building standards so that a few profiteers can line their pockets?
Digitization – an important topic for the Board of Trustees – but unfortunately for many, even in our industry, just a reason to parrot alleged truths. No notice seems to be taken at all of the fundamental undesirable development of the grids following the 2016 law on the digitization of the energy transition. There will be a rude awakening in a few years.
The regulatory unleashing of renewable energy? Apart from empty phrases and diplomatic interventions by Minister Habeck with Bavaria’s Serene Leader Söder, nothing, but nothing at all, is forthcoming to really unleash the RE proliferation. Private PV installations must be freed from all unnecessary ballast, the in-house grid and the DC side of PV is nobody’s business, neither the state’s nor grid operator’s, nor information about who consumes the in-house electricity: owner or tenant – this does not matter at all.
For wind power, any rigid minimum distance rule must be dropped – not only the abstruse Bavarian 10 x mast height rule – and replaced by relevant physical parameters such as dbA values and limits on the shadows cast on nearby residential neighborhoods, etc.. Also: repowering must be boosted and facilitated. Likewise, the environmental regulations, which are currently being weaponized more against the environment by the eternal naysayers, must be completely revised and a partial reversal of evidence introduced. Plaintiffs have to prove the harmfulness, not plant constructors the harmlessness, by commissioning hundreds of expert opinions.
This is the only way to achieve reasonable planning horizons of less than 1-2 years!
So far for today from EUROSOLAR’s Board of Trustees. This Board can be trusted!